St. Charles, IL (Elmhurst, Hinsdale: for sale, HOA, mortgages)

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We have been looking at homes for sale in the Red Gate Ridge subdivision in the St. Charles area. We like the homes but notice that there a lot of houses for sale in comparison to other subdivisions.
Is there a reason for the number of homes being sold? Is it that time of year? Since we do not live in the area, we were wondering if there is something about the area or neighborhood that is resulting in a larger number of homes being sold at this time.
Thanks for any response.

[chet everett]

The biggest factor is simply the "hang over" from the hyper-inflated pre-bubble pricing has left many folks ENORMOUSLY upside down -- people that put way way way too much into home that are NOT particularly convenient to any large concentration of very high paying jobs was not prudent.

Don't get me wrong -- if you DO HAVE a high paying job and WANT / NEED to live St. Charles there is nothing "wrong" with Red Gate Ridge or any of the other subdivisions out that way but when land prices and costs for completed homes were as high as those in Hinsdale or North Shore suburbs it just showed how out of whack values had become...

Some of the homes that are still lingering on the market clearly show signs of folks that left in less than happy circumstances -- taking everything that was not screwed down (and some stuff that was...) may feel like a way to "stick to the stinking lender" but the reality is that money will have to come from new buyers and that will hurt the overall ability of homes in nice condition to command top dollar. Not a real classy move...

Check out the details for taxes and HOA assessments as well as the actual selling price -- if you understand what you are getting into and the price reflects the overall value for the period you plan on owning your home you will probably be fine. There were just too many people in not just St. Charles but a whole lot of towns that really did not fully grasp how much "over exuberance" was stretching the bubble thin. Folks in the worst of upside town situations probably has several hundred thousand in negative equity ...

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Thanks. That does put it into perspective. I just did not know if there was some hidden issue about the area or the subdivision itself.

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[nikitakolata]

I basically echo what Chet said. As far as I know there's nothing wrong with the Red Gate subdivision.

I think that in general there are a lot of people who would have liked to move a long time ago, but couldn't because they were so upside down. Prices have climbed ever so slightly in the past couple of years. There are more houses for sale near me in Elmhurst right now than there were a year ago when my husband and I bought our house. The asking prices are higher now as well. I don't think that means there's something wrong with the area as much as it's just a refleciton of people who would have moved 3 years ago but couldn't take the loss required to do so back then. I think it's a combination of maybe paying down mortgages and also acceptance that prices will probably never be where they were in 2007 again (or accepting that they don't want to wait that long to move).

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Thanks. We like what we see on line and knowing that it is a circumstance not a problem area is good for our peace of mind.

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